Nepal is heavier on non-vegetarian items in its cuisine, but it is not difficult to find vegetarian food in Nepal. While the border regions have heavy influence of Indian cuisine, the higher altitude regions have Tibetian influence
Thakali Bhancha kitchens originating from Thak Khola in Mustang have their presence throughout the country, similar to “Udupi” restaurants in India.
Must try vegetarian food in Nepal
Dal Bhat: National dish of Nepal with rice, dal, vegetables. Dal can be made with yellow or black lentils, with yellow being most common
Thakali Nepali Thali: You can easily get a Thali with rice, lentils, vegetables at these Thakali restaurants. They use jimbu herb, ghee and timur peppers
Dhindo– Buckwheat porridge, included in Thalis as an option instead of rice
Saag– Leafy vegetables stir fried with garlic and chilies
Gundruk: Fermented leafy dish made with mustard or radish leaves, served as an appetizer, side dish or in soupy form
Bhatmas Sadheko- Made from soya beans with onions, spices
Aloo Tama– Made from potatoes and bamboo shoots
Kwati: Soup or stew made from nine sprouted beans like black eyed beans, soy, green gram, chick peas, white peas, kidney beans. Many spices like turmeric, ginger, carom seeds ger used. It is specially made for Janai Purnima
Bara: Newari crisp snack made from lentil pancakes, topped with black eyed beans. Remember to ask for plain Bara without eggs. The dosa like batter is made with lentils, ginger, turmeric, salt and chilies.It is served during auspicious occasions, believed to bring good luck. You can find a popular Bara hole in the wall joint at Bhaktapur Square called Aama ko Bara
Momos: Tibetan influenced dish, served with chilly sauce
Chana Chiura– Stir fried chickpeas and beaten rice
Arikanchan– Similar to Patra or Patrode in India, made from colacasia leaves. The leaves are smeared with a paste made of rice, chillies, spices and rolled in layers before steaming and then frying slices of them
Masyaura– Sun dried vegetable balls made from black lentils added to soups and curries. Lentils are combined with starchy food like yam, potatoes, spinach, beans, cauliflower, taro stems before rolling them into balls
Must try sweets in Nepal
Juju Dhau: Creamy, custard like yoghurt made in Bhaktapur. It is similar to Indian mishti doi and made with buffalo milk in clay pots
Sel Roti- Donut like fried sweet dish made with rice flour
Yomari- Conical fish dish made with steamed rice flour and filled with jaggery-sesame-khova paste, similar to modaks of Maharashtra or Ire-adde of South India
Lakamari- Fried flour-sugar dough, made with different shapes and typically gifted during weddings
Gudpak– Made from khova, sugar, nuts and ghee, similar to Indian halwas
Each meal costed around $5, it was not very expensive. Pure vegetarian restaurants are not so common, typically limited to Indian restaurants in large cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara. We relied on Thalis on most of the days to keep it simple and light for the stomach, without too much oil. It becomes a bit monotonous after some time, so we mixed Punjabi thalis at Indian restaurants that included one of rotis, paneer curries, lassi. Sweet dishes were only for trial
Vegetarian food in Nepal is easy to find, so you need not carry too much food from home!